It appears Willie Simmons is preparing to leave Florida A&M for an assistant coach position at Duke.
ESPN college football writer Adam Rittenberg reported Monday afternoon that Simmons will accept an offer to join Manny Diaz at Duke. His possible departure was first reported by the YouTube channel Offscript last week.
Simmons, who just completed his fourth season at Florida A&M, guided the program to its first SWAC East title, a conference championship, and won the Celebration Bowl this season. He has an overall record of 66-24 overall between Prairie View and FAMU. The Rattlers have gone 45-13 under his leadership, including three different seasons with nine wins.
Simmons and Diaz both worked on the same staff at Middle Tennessee State from 2007 to 2009. He began his coaching career as an assistant at Clemson, where he played quarterback.
— Coach Willie Simmons (@HCWillieSimmons) January 1, 2024
Florida A&M leaders made a strong pushover the weekend to increase Simmons’ yearly salary by $100,000 along with bonuses for Simmons and his staff, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
The Florida A&M coach previously signed a five-year, 1.5 million contract in 2017 and then an extension in 2021 that runs through the end of the 2025 season.
The FAMU National Alumni Association announced on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that at an emergency meeting, it had made a substantial financial commitment to “assist in the compensation of football coaches.”
